Even four seasons in, it’s not a troublesome argument to make that for all its goals of being a present with 4 major characters, Decrease Decks has been most centered, and at its strongest, on two of these characters specifically. However season 4 is engaged on a number of the show’s weaknesses, and this week it takes that criticism head on, and actually works.
“One thing Borrowed, One thing Inexperienced” sees Tendi change into the focal character of the week, as she is begrudgingly compelled into taking shore depart to return to her homeworld of Orion, on the request of her household, to attend her sister’s wedding ceremony. It’s a enjoyable alternative to separate the group up—and pair Boimler up with Rutherford for some enjoyable facet shenanigans, even when the present sadly doesn’t fully take advantage of use out of this uncommon combo. However it’s most fascinating due to one thing else past the Tendi focus too: after T’Lyn obtained to play the straight Vulcan alongside Boimler last week, we now get to see her on a “womans journey” journey with Tendi and Mariner.
That’s to not say “One thing Borrowed, One thing Inexperienced” isn’t a foul episode for Tendi, nonetheless—fairly the alternative. We get to see Tendi working throughout the social circles of each the Orion folks and their tradition, and additionally the privilege of what seems to be her very lavish, very highly effective crime syndicate household from the second she, Mariner, and T’Lyn step on the planet. We additionally lastly get to see the complete extent of her backstory, as her sister opens as much as Tendi that the entire ritual-kidnapping quest she finds herself collaborating in forward of the marriage ceremony was devised by her sister as a approach to really see her once more after she left her behind to hitch Starfleet.
The deal with Orion tradition—a not often seen factor for Trek regardless of the Orions’ standing as one of many franchise’s extra well-known species—is enjoyable, however doesn’t actually advance what Decrease Decks has already proven in snippets of Tendi’s backstory earlier than. For a lot of the episode’s runtime, it nearly appears like “One thing Borrowed, One thing Inexperienced” goes to be a missed alternative, going a bit of however not far sufficient to provide time to one in all Decrease Decks’ most underserved characters. However it’s saved within the private battle between Tendi and her sister in its climax, and the reveal that when Tendi left Orion—and fought so arduous to not embody the sterotypes of its folks within the wider galaxy—she finally left her sister to be trapped within the position she’d escaped as her household’s prime murderer. Though it’s resolved in a snappy sitcom runtime, this additional emotional wrinkle to Tendi’s otherwise-typical backstory of eager to defy expectations retroactively strengthens all these previous snippets of her encounters with Orions in some actually fascinating methods.
However whereas the episode principally succeeds in giving Tendi the main focus she deserved, it’s nearly arguably simply as profitable in giving us a good time with one other lesser-focused character, for various causes: newcomer T’Lyn. Whereas she’s nonetheless largely filling the position she stuffed final week, she’s already shaping as much as be a improbable addition to Decrease Decks. The skin commenter to the wild power of somebody like Mariner, or how she’s in a position to carry Tendi out of her personal consolation zones when wanted, is nice enjoyable, and it actually speaks to her untypical-for-a-Vulcan malleability thus far—having the ability to pair her up with any combo of the present’s principal group and nonetheless really feel enjoyable and fascinating in how she facilitates these combos provides me a number of hope that after we do get some particular person deal with her, T’Lyn is already properly ready to change into a spotlight of the present.
And if something has been confirmed by season 4 thus far, that second will come quickly sufficient—and it’ll be satisfying to see because the present continues to refocus and construct on its strengths, whereas acknowledging and dealing on a few of its uncommon weaknesses.
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